Blog

Raincoast Creative Salon is the online home for what I love: creativity, art, design, and travel. Take a look at my photography portfolio. I also share behind-the-scenes peeks of my creative side projects.

My blog has three categories: create, where I photograph, cook, make art and write about the creative process; travel is about my travels, both local and afar; and inspire - photographers, artists, & designers who inspire my work, and interviews with artists, photographers, & creative couples.

But my friends, I've saved the best for last. Saved it for last because it is, yes, the best speaker at Camp Mighty for me. And saved it for last because I don't know how soon I'll be able to fully understand and then communicate to you the impact that hearing this woman speak had on me.

But I've got to at least try because if I can get it down here for you to read, then it is that much CLEARER to me and that much CLOSER to being implemented in my life.

First a bit of background. You KNOW that I'm all over living a creative life. And that part of that is making THE best environment to do what I do, honing and sharpening and improving my creative process so that what I do, I do in the best way that I can. I share what I learn with you. Right here.

Well, there's another piece to this that, if you knew me in real life, you'd have heard me rant about over the years. Yes, I can rant. My real life friends can attest to my rantiness. "There she goes AGAIN. Rant, rant, rant".

One of my favourite rants is about this - that we are STILL the same people as those cavemen and cavewomen sitting around the campfire listening to someone tell a story. We are STILL the same people watching the shadow play on the wall of the cave.

We are a people who NEED to experience the arts together. It's not enough that we make and then share what we make. We need that collaborative experience of being an audience to someone else creating in.that.moment.

And that is what has been lost. Lost to our detriment.

We need to see plays. We need to hear music performed live right in front of us. We need to listen to someone tell a story. We need to watch acts of magic, of comedy, of dance. And we need to do it together.

There is a magic that happens in the ether between the audience and the performers. It is a creative collaboration that can never happen on its own.

And there is a woman who is making this happen in Washington, DC. Philippa P.B. Hughes is this woman and she spoke at Camp Mighty. Her organization?